Internet-Based Frequency and Award Redemption System and Method

ABSTRACT

An on-line frequency award program is disclosed. A user may access the program on-line and may browse a product catalog for shopping. The user may electronically place an order, upon which the program automatically checks the user&#39;s credit and electronically issues a purchase order to the supplying company. The program also calculates award points, updates the award account of enrolled users, and communicates that number of awarded points to the user. Enrolled users may browse through an award catalog and electronically redeem an amount of awarded points towards an award. The program then electronically places an award redeeming order with the fulfillment house and updates the user&#39;s award account.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/331,139filed Jan. 13, 2006, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.10/420,901, filed Apr. 23, 2003, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 09/441,144, filed Nov. 12, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,012,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/105,227, filed Jun.25, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,412, which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 08/572,017, filed Dec. 14, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No.5,774,870, the respective disclosures of which are incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to frequency and award redemption program. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to an on-line, interactivefrequency and award redemption program which is fully integrated.

2. Description of Related Art

Frequency programs have been developed by the travel industry to promotecustomer loyalty. An example of such a program is a “frequent flyer”program. According to such a program, when a traveler books a flight, acertain amount of “mileage points” are calculated by a formula using thedistance of the destination as a parameter. However, the mileage pointsare not awarded until the traveler actually takes the flight.

When a traveler has accumulated sufficient number of mileage points, hemay redeem these points for an award chosen from a specific list ofawards specified by the program. Thus, for example, the traveler mayredeem the points for a free flight ticket or a free rental car. Inorder to redeem the accumulated points, the traveler generally needs torequest a certificate, and use the issued certificate as payment for thefree travel.

While the above program may induce customer loyalty, it has thedisadvantage that the selection of prizes can be made only from thelimited list of awards provided by the company. For example, a travelermay redeem the certificate for flights between only those destinationsto which the carrier has a regular service. Another disadvantage is thatthe customer generally needs to plan ahead in sufficient time to orderand receive the award certificate.

According to another type of frequency and award program, a creditinstrument is provided and credit points are accumulated instead of themileage points. In such programs, bonus points are awarded by using aformula in which a price paid for merchandise is a parameter. Thus, uponeach purchase a certain number of bonus points are awarded, whichtranslate to dollar credit amount. According to these programs, thecustomer receives a credit instrument which may be acceptable by manyenrolled retailers, so that the selection of prizes available isenhanced. An example of such a program is disclosed in E.P.A. 308,224.However, while such programs may enhance the selection of prizes, thereis still the problem of obtaining the credit instrument for redeemingthe awarded points. In addition, the enrollee must allow for processingtime before the bonus points are recorded and made available asredeemable credit. Thus, the immediacy effect of the reward is lackingin these conventional incentive programs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, the present invention is advantageous in that itprovides an on-line, interactive incentive program which is fullyintegrated.

The disclosed invention is also advantageous in that it provides anon-line access to product information, product purchases using anon-line electronic order form, award catalogs, and award redemptionusing an on-line electronic redemption forms.

Another advantage of the subject invention is that it awards bonuspoints immediately upon purchase of merchandise.

The present invention is further advantageous in that it provides bonuspoints which are immediately made available for redemption.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it allows thecustomer to select a prize immediately upon the award of the bonuspoints.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it allows acustomer to order a prize and redeem the awarded points towards theordered prize immediately upon the award of the bonus points, thusenhancing the immediacy effect of the reward program.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it provides anelectronic sign-up form for on-line signing up by users.

The above and other advantages are provided by the disclosed inventionwhich includes provisions for access over the internet. Upon gaining ofan access, the customer is able to browse through a merchandize catalog,an award catalog, view the bonus points available for redemption in thecustomer's award bonus account, and get information about the productsfor purchase, the program and the customer's account. The program alsoenables the customer to order merchandize on-line, order prizes on-lineand redeem awarded points on-line. Accordingly, the selection ofavailable prizes is expanded by the merchants who join the program, andthe bonus award is made instantly redeemable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment withreference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the access part of the program of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the product selection and on-linepurchase part of the program of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the membership part of the program of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the award redemption part of the programof the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an enrollment routine.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an exemplary routine to determine thenumber of points the user is short of for redeeming a particularproduct.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The program according to the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1-5. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the access partof the program. In FIG. 1, 10 indicates access via an on-line providersuch as AOL™, CompuServe™ etc. On the other hand, 20 indicates a directaccess to the Internet, such as via Netscape™ Upon gaining an access tothe internet, 30, the program proceeds to a selection menu 40. Dependingon the user's choice, from the selection menu 40 the program may proceedto PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE 100A or PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300. Alternatively theuser may choose to exit the program via EXIT, 50.

It should be noted from the outset that in the preferred embodiment ofthe disclosed invention, the user may back-track from any particularpoint in the program. Notably, the user is able to return to selectionmenu 40 from any part of the program. This being stated generally, itwill be appreciated that this feature is applicable to the furtherprogram steps of the preferred embodiment described below and,therefore, it will not be repeated in the following description.

In FIG. 1, PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, is a homepage of a particular typeof products. For example, PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, may be a homepagefor men's shirts. In such an example, the PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, mayinclude icons to allow the user to select information regarding, forexample, different brands, price ranges, types (dress shirts, sportshirts, etc.), and thereafter review the products available relating tothe particular selection in a manner much similar to reviewing a printedproduct catalogue.

Alternatively PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, may identify a particular brand.In such an example PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, may include icons to allowthe user to review information regarding particular products sold bythis particular brand.

In the preferred embodiment, the capability to view informationregarding the various products is enhanced by providing the user withvarious “browsing” options, generally implemented in the form of icons.This is depicted in FIG. 1 as BROWSING OPTION 60. Thus, for example, theuser may choose to list the products alphabetically, list the brandsalphabetically, or use a search engine to create a group of productswhich fit the user's requirements. Any conventional search engine may beused for this purpose. Such a search engine can be implemented foraccepting a boolean string, or by collecting the user's response to aninquiry set. The fields for the search engine may include, for example,key words, brands, price range, material etc.

In FIG. 1, BROWSING OPTION 60 is shown at the same level as PRODUCT AHOMEPAGE, 100A, to indicate that in the preferred embodiment the usermay go directly to view the products information, or arrange a new listof products according to the user's needs. However, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, that other arrangements arepossible. For example, BROWSING OPTION, 60, can be inserted betweenSELECTION MENU 40 and PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE 100A so that the user may haveto enter his preferred way of viewing the products before the user isable to select the products' homepage.

In the Figures, PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, is depicted as multiple pages.This depiction signifies two features of the program of the presentinvention. The first feature, is that PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, mayinclude more than one page. Thus, if a large amount of information needsto be included in PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, the homepage may actuallycomprise several pages and the user will be provided with a scrolloption so as to be able to scroll over the information pages. Anotherfeature is that from the selection menu 40 the user may be able tochoose other products homepage such as, for example, PRODUCT B HOMEPAGE,PRODUCT C HOMEPAGE, etc., which are depicted impliedly in the drawingsas pages following PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A.

In a similar manner, PROGRAM HOMEPAGE, 300, is shown in the Figures asmultiple pages. (It will be understood by those skilled in the art thatPROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300 is the main internet address for the incentiveprogram system). This depiction also signifies two features of theprogram of the present invention. The first feature, is that PROGRAMHOMEPAGE, 300, may comprise multiple pages with a scrolling feature toallow the user to scroll for viewing the information contained in thepages. The second feature is that several incentive programs, orincentive level programs may be available for access from the selectionmenu 40. For example, several different programs may be accessible, eachprogram being managed by a different incentive company. Alternatively,or in addition, several incentive level programs may be accessible fromthe selection menu 40.

In the case of several incentive level programs, restrictions may beimposed for accessibility to the various incentive level programs. Forexample, a particular incentive company may manage three incentiveprograms: white, silver and gold. The white incentive program can beaccessible for enrollment by any approved user. On the other hand, theincentive company may allow limited access to the silver and goldincentive programs for providing information only, while enrollment maybe restricted only to those users who satisfy set requirements. Theserequirements may relate, for example, to a certain level of purchasingwithin a given period, credit rating, gross salary, special companypromotion program, etc. As in the above, while these various featureshave been described herein, they are depicted in the drawing simply byshowing multiple pages following PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300.

If a user selects PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE 100A, the program proceeds to aselection menu 110, shown in FIG. 2. Incidentally, the routines shown inFIG. 2 are depicted to proceed from the routine of FIG. 1 by thedesignation Ai. This designation is to alert the reader that thisparticular routine is generic to all the other products homepage, suchas PRODUCT B HOMEPAGE, PRODUCT C HOMEPAGE, etc. Therefore, while thedescription provided herein relates to PRODUCT A HOMEPAGE, 100A, this isonly for demonstration purposes and it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that similar processing would follow upon selectionof a different product homepage. With continued reference to FIG. 2,selection menu 110 provides the user with the following options: proceedto PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300, proceed to PRODUCT i HOMEPAGE, 100 i, (i beingany of the number of available products homepage) or proceed to ORDERFORM 130. Alternatively, the user may change the list of products bychoosing the appropriate browsing option or using the search engine tocreate a new list of products (not shown). Upon selection of PRODUCT iHOMEPAGE, 100 i, the program reverts to step Ai, i.e., to SELECTION MENU110. Upon selection of PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300, the program proceeds tostep B shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later.

If the user decides to purchase an item, the program proceeds to ORDERFORM 130 and the user is prompted to electronically provide entries tothe appropriate queries in the order form. Thereupon, a communicationlink is established and the program performs a CREDIT CHECK routine,140, to verify the availability of funds for purchase.

At this juncture, a particular feature of the program of the presentinvention will be described. As noted above and shown in FIG. 1, theuser may access the internet using an on-line provider or an internetdirect access. If the user is accessing the internet via an on-lineprovider, his credit information (account number, type of credit cardetc.) is available directly from the on-line provider. Accordingly, inperforming the CREDIT CHECK routine 140, the information needed for thecredit check can be obtained from the on-line provider. Alternatively,if the user gained access via an internet direct method, the CREDITCHECK routine 140 may provide an inquiry screen requesting the user toenter his credit information.

A related feature of the present invention is that when the user entersORDER FORM 130 from a particular product homepage describing aparticular product, it is very likely that the user wishes to purchasethat particular product. Therefore, the relevant information regardingthe product can be read from the product's homepage and pasted at theappropriate positions in the ORDER FORM 130. Thus, the user will onlyhave to enter information specific to options such as size, color,quantity, etc.

At step 130, certain predetermined information is striped off from thecompleted order form and sent to the credit check 140. Such informationmay be, for example, credit card number and dollar amount. This isbecause much of the information included in the order form is irrelevantto the person's credit, and the credit institution may be unable tohandle the extra information. Furthermore, sending the least amount ofinformation would expedite the credit check.

If the CREDIT CHECK routine 140 result is negative, in step 150N theuser is provided with a message to that effect. The program may thenprompt the user to enter another credit card number or to exit. However,if the CREDIT CHECK routine 140 result is positive, in step 150P theprogram proceeds to establish a communication link and places a PRODUCTORDER, 160, with the product company. As shown in FIG. 2, in thepreferred embodiment PRODUCT ORDER 160 is placed by electronic meanssuch as e-mail or facsimile so as to render the program of the presentinvention fully integrated in an interactive on-line system; however,the ORDER FORM 160 can alternatively be place by conventional means bysimply printing and mailing the ORDER FORM 160 to the product company.

As shown in FIG. 2, while the communication link is established to theproduct company, the program also proceeds to the FREQUENCY DATABASE,170. In FREQUENCY DATABASE 170 the user's information is checked againstthe database of enrolled users. If it is determined that the user is anenrolled user, 180E, the program proceeds to step 190 to calculate theaward points according to a preprogrammed formula. Thereafter theprogram proceeds to add the points to the enrolled user's account, 200,and display the account information and the added points to the user,210. From this point, the program may return to ORDER FORM 130, to stepAi, to PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300 to view the awards catalog (not shown inFIG. 2) or proceed to SELECTION MENU, 40, (not shown in FIG. 2).

The preferred embodiment includes a particular feature wherein inaddition to displaying the points added to the account, the programincludes a routine to display a selected award or product, and thenumber of points the user is short of in order to receive that award orproduct. For example, during particular periods certain awards orproducts may be designated as under a “special program”. Thus, duringthose periods, the award would require a reduced number of points and/orthe product would be available under special favorable terms. The usermay be notified of that fact to thereby entice the user to purchaseadditional products in order to qualify for the “special program” terms.

In order to implement the “special program,” the information regardingthe award/product needs to be read. The number of points required toredeem the particular qualifying award is then fetched. Similarly, theuser's account is accessed and the number of points in the user accountis fetched. The number of points read from the user's account issubtracted from the number of points read from the award information andthe result is displayed as the number of points the user is short of toredeem the particular qualified award. An exemplary flow chart isprovided in FIG. 6.

On the other hand, if in step 170 it was determined that the user is anew, unenrolled user, 180N, the program proceeds to step 220 tocalculate the award points according to the preprogrammed formula.Thereafter, the program proceeds to step 230, wherein a message is sentto the user identifying how many points he will earn should he enroll inthe program. Step 230 also inquires whether the user is interested injoining the program. Accordingly, step 230 may be in a form of a messagesuch as, for example, “By enrolling in the incentive program you willearn [X] points for purchasing the [insert the item purchased]. Thesepoints may be redeemed toward exciting awards. Are you interested inenrolling or viewing the award catalog? Y/N.”

If in step 240 the user selects NO in response to step 230, the programproceeds to ORDER FORM 130 or to process Ai (not shown), which proceedsto SELECTION MENU 110. Alternatively, after receiving NO in step 240process may continue to SELECTION MENU 40. At step 240, if it isdetermined that the user would like to sign up with the award program(join), the program proceeds to step 250 which is a sign up routine. Anyconventional sign up routine may be used at this stage of processing. Atthe end of the sign up routine, the program can return to point Ai, orto the purchase order form. The user may sign off from any of theselocations.

For illustration purposes, a general flow of an enrollment routine forsigning up is shown in FIG. 5. This routine may be entered from manydifferent places in the program, e.g., after making a purchase, afterreviewing information regarding the program, etc. Accordingly, thebeginning of the routine of FIG. 5 is shown “floating.”

At step 600 the user is prompted either to enter a credit card accountnumber, 610, or to indicate that he wishes to use the same account usedto access the internet or to purchase an item, in which case the accountnumber is obtained from within the program, 620. (It should berecognized that the user's name can also be obtained internally from theon-line access program.) At 630 the user is prompted to enter a personalidentification code, which can generally be a four letter/number code.At 640 the user is prompted to enter his choice of mailing address—theaddress indicated on the order form, 660—or a different address, 650. (Adifferent address can be entered in the order form, for example, whenpurchasing a present to be mailed to the recipient). At 670 the programcreates a new account in the database. In FIG. 2, steps 190 and 220 maybe combined and the awards point calculated before reaching step 170.That is, upon obtaining a positive credit check at step 150P, theprogram can proceed to calculate the award points before proceeding tostep 170. Then after performing step 180, process can proceed either tostep 200, when it is determined that the user is an enrolled user(180E), or to step 230, when it is determined that the user is not anenrolled user (180N).

In the description of the preferred embodiment, the term product alsorefers to a gift certificate. The following examples are provided inorder to make this feature clearer to the reader. When a user accessesthe various product homepages, the user has the option to purchase agift certificate rather than purchasing an actual product. The giftcertificate can be directed to a particular merchant, a particularmanufacturer/brand, or to all the products available through theprogram.

In the preferred embodiment the gift certificate is sent electronicallyto a computer designated by the user to be printed by a printer linkedto the designated computer. Thus, for example, if the user knows theaccount number of the recipient of the gift certificate, the user maypurchase the gift certificate and designate the recipient's account asthe designated computer. Accordingly, the gift certificate will beelectronically sent to the recipient's computer, or electronically addedto the recipient's account while electronically informing the recipientof the transaction. Therefore, the user will not have to mail thecertificate to the recipient.

It should also be realized that the user will be credited award pointscorresponding to the price of the gift certificate purchased. Thus,while the recipient will receive the gift certificate for purchases, theuser will receive the award points. In addition, the user may use awardpoints from his account as payment for the purchasing of a giftcertificate; thus effectively making the award points available forpurchases by a recipient. This can be used to entice unenrolledrecipients to join the program.

When a user selects PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300 (e.g., from SELECTION MENU 40or from SELECTION MENU 110), the program proceeds through to SELECTIONMENU 310, shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, SELECTION MENU 310 is shown asthree consecutive decision points. This represents the structure in thepreferred embodiment wherein each of the options shown branching fromthe three decision points are available for selection from PROGRAMHOMEPAGE 300.

SELECTION MENU 310 allows the user to exit the program, go to PRODUCT AiHOMEPAGE 100A (from which program would proceed to Ai in FIG. 2), go tothe BROWSING OPTION 60, learn about the award program by selecting ABOUTAWARD PROGRAM 320, apply for membership by selecting MEMBERSHIPAPPLICATION 250 (see, FIGS. 2 and 5), review the user's account byselecting the FREQUENCY DATA BASE 340, or review the awards catalog byselecting AWARD CATALOG HOMEPAGE 400 (shown in FIG. 4).

Upon selecting FREQUENCY DATABASE 340, the user will be prompted toenter the account number, the identification code, or both at step 350.In the program of the present invention, the account number and theidentification code are linked together, for the user for which they areavailable. Thus, when a user account is established in the frequencydatabase, data is included to link the user's account number to theuser's identification code. (It should be noted that account number canrefer to a credit card account number, an account number internal to theprogram, etc.)

If the user has entered the internet via an on-line provider 10, hiscredit card account number can be obtained on-line from the on-lineprovider. Therefore, rather than prompting the user to enter his creditcard account number or his program account number, the credit cardaccount number can be obtained on-line from the on-line provider, andthe account can be matched against the accounts in the frequencydatabase. If a match is obtained, the program account number can be readfrom the frequency database. However, for security purposes, it ispreferable that the program will not proceed to step 360 to display theaccount information before the user has been prompted and has entered atleast the correct identification code at step 350, which is matched withthe account number.

If the user selects AWARD CATALOG HOMEPAGE 400 processing proceeds tothe routine shown in FIG. 4. In the preferred embodiment several optionsare available for viewing the award catalog. This is represented by theSELECTION MENU 410, although those skilled in the art would recognizethat other processing can be provided for viewing the award catalog. Asshown in FIG. 4, at least two options are made available by SELECTIONMENU 410: SHOW QUALIFIED AWARDS 420 (shown continuing at branch E) andVIEWING OPTIONS 450. QUALIFIED AWARDS 420 allows the user a quick accessto viewing all the awards the user is qualified for. VIEWING OPTIONS 450allows the user to view the awards according to the order selected bythe user.

If the user selects QUALIFIED AWARDS 420, the frequency database isaccessed to determine the award point, 425 thereafter, the entire awardcatalog is scanned and a qualified awards database is created for theparticular number of award points read from the user's account, 430.Thereafter, the first page of the first award is displayed, 435, and theuser can browse through the catalog created in step 430. Alternatively,the user can select QUALIFIED AWARD OPTION 440 for different options ofarranging and viewing the qualified awards catalog. These options canbe, for example, by alphabetical order, by brands, by product, etc.

While the above method of displaying the qualified awards is workable,it may take too much time to scan all the awards in order to “custom”build a qualified awards catalog. Therefore, other alternatives may beused for creating the qualified award catalog. According to thepreferred alternative, point levels are defined. For example, pointlevel 1 can include all awards of value up to 500 points, point level 2,up to 1000 points, etc. When the user's account is read at 425, thehighest point level the user is qualified for is determined. At thispoint a message may be displayed such as “You are qualified for pointlevel 3 and have additional 350 points in your account. To qualify forpoint level 4 you will need 150 additional points.”

If memory size is not a problem, different libraries can be stored, eachcorresponding to a certain point level. Thus, for example, award library1 can include all the awards which can be redeemed by a number of pointsdefined by point level 1. In the above example, award library 1 willinclude all awards worth up to 500 points. Thus, when the point level ofthe user is determined, all the awards in the corresponding library aremade accessible as qualified awards. This allow for fast access, sincethe step 430 of creating the qualified catalog is skipped. However, suchsystem may require large amount of memory, since many libraries may beneeded to store the various awards of different point levels.

In the preferred embodiment the award libraries are arranged in aprogressive manner, so as to avoid the need for a large memory size. Theabove example of the point levels will be used to explain this feature.Using the above example, award library 1 should include all awards worthup to 500 points. Award library 2 should include all awards worth from501-1000 points, etc. Thus, if the user is qualified, for example, forpoint level 2, access is made to award libraries 1 and 2. Thus,duplication of awards in the various libraries is prevented.

A further option would be to flag the various awards according to thepoint level for which they are qualified. Accordingly, when the pointlevel of the user has been determined, the awards are scanned for theappropriate flag and the qualified award library is created in thismanner. While this feature does not eliminate step 430, the qualifiedaward library can be built in less time than by scanning the requiredpoints and comparing each required point to the available points.

By selecting VIEWING OPTIONS 450, the user may set the order in which toview the awards. Thus, for example, the user may view the awards byalphabetical order, enter a ceiling point number for viewing all awardsup to that ceiling, view awards by product or brand, etc. The awardcatalog of the program of the preferred embodiment includes a featurewhereby when a particular award is shown, it includes informationregarding how many points are required to redeem that particular award,and how many points the user is short of in order to redeem thatparticular award.

To implement the above mentioned feature, the program accesses theuser's account in the frequency database and reads the amount of awardpoints the user has in his account. Then, whenever the program displaysa particular product, the program subtracts the number of pointsavailable in the user's account from the number of points required toredeem the award. The result is displayed as the number of points theuser is short of to redeem that award. Of course, if the user is notenrolled in the program or does not have any award points in hisaccount, the number of points the user is short of will be equal to thenumber of points required to redeem the award. An exemplary flow chartis shown in FIG. 6.

Another particular feature for viewing the award catalog is shown inFIG. 4. The user is provided with an access to the frequency databasevia FREQUENCY DATABASE 460. While in FIG. 4 FREQUENCY DATABASE 460 isshown to proceed from VIEWING OPTION 450, it would be appreciated thataccess to the frequency database and the routine of the featuredescribed below can be provided in other places in the program.

Upon accessing the frequency database, the user may view the account toverify the amount of redeemable points recorded therein. Thereafter, theuser may enter any ceiling awards points of the user's choice, 470, forviewing the awards worth up to that ceiling, 475. Processing fordisplaying the qualified awards can then proceed as shown in steps 435,440, and 500 in branch E of FIG. 4.

In the preferred embodiment, the user may enter the REDEEM routine 500at any point in the program. In FIG. 4 this feature is represented bythe several REDEEM 500 selections depicted at many points of theprogram. When entering the REDEEM routine, the user may be prompted toenter the account number, the identification code or both, 510. This issimilar to the description provided with respect to step 350 in FIG. 3.Thus, only the identification code may be required if on-line access wasgained via an on-line provider. Thereafter, the proper award to beredeemed is determined.

It should be noted that if the REDEEM 500 step has been entered intofrom an award page, the award described in that particular page may beautomatically read into the REDEEM 500 routine as the selected award.However, the user may be prompted to verify that this is the correctaward he wished to redeem and enter appropriate selections, such ascolor, size, etc. Otherwise, the user may simply be prompted to enterthe award by, for example, an award code. It should also be noted thatif the user has designated the ceiling award points, the user's accountneeds to be accessed to verify that the user has sufficient points toredeem the chosen award, 515.

The proper amount of points is then subtracted from the user's accountand an adjustment is made in the frequency database, 520. A link is thenestablished to the fulfillment house or directly to the productmanufacturer and an award order is communicated, 530. Thereafter, theprogram returns to the PROGRAM HOMEPAGE 300.

In the description of the preferred embodiment, the term “user” alsorefers to merchants, product manufacturers, award programadministrators, etc. These particular users may be provided with aspecial access code. Upon entering the special code, these particularusers may be provided with a privileged access to the program whichallows them to make limited changes to the data. Thus, for example, amerchant may use this special access to change a price charged for aparticular product. Similarly, a program administrator may gainprivileged access to enter newly added awards available through theprogram. In addition, in the preferred embodiment a report is generatedupon each privileged entry so that the changes made can be monitored.

Certain variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art, whichvariations are considered within the spirit and scope of the claimedinvention.

1. An internet-based product marketing incentive system comprising: aproduct information web page adapted to present a user with informationrelating to one or more products available for purchase by the user; aproduct selection link adapted to enable the user to select a productpresented on said product information web page for purchase; a productpurchase link adapted to enable the user to purchase the productselected with said product selection link; a point calculation andissuance module configured to determine if the user is entitled toreceive award points for purchasing the selected product, and, if theuser is entitled to receive award points for purchasing the selectedproduct, immediately calculating the number of points to be awarded forpurchasing the selected product based on a predetermined award pointformula and immediately issuing the number of award points calculated toan award points account of the user; and an award information web pageadapted to present the user with information relating to one or moreawards for which the user can exchange award points.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, said product purchase link being adapted to enable the user toaccess means enabling the user to purchase merchandise selected withsaid product selection link.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein saidmeans enabling the user to purchase comprises an electronic order form.4. The system of claim 3, wherein said means enabling the user topurchase is adapted to automatically insert information identifying theproduct selected by the user when the user selects said product purchaselink.
 5. The system of claim 1, said product information web page beingadapted to present the user with information relating to merchandiseavailable for purchase.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising anaward selection link adapted to enable the user to select an awardpresented on said award information web page to exchange for acorresponding number of award points issued to the user.
 7. The systemof claim 1, further comprising an award points database web page adaptedto provide the user with information relating to award points issued tothe user.
 8. An internet-based product marketing incentive systemcomprising: a product navigation link adapted to be activated by a userand direct the user to a product information web page which presents theuser with information relating to one or more products available forpurchase by the user; a product selection link adapted to enable theuser to select a product presented on said product information web pagefor purchase; a product purchase link adapted to enable the user topurchase the product selected with said product selection link; a pointcalculation and issuance module configured to determine if the user isentitled to receive award points for purchasing the selected product,and, if the user is entitled to receive award points for purchasing theselected product, immediately calculating the number of points to beawarded for purchasing the selected product based on a predeterminedaward point formula and immediately issuing the number of award pointscalculated to an award points account of the user; and an awardnavigation link adapted to be activated by the user and direct the userto an award information web page which presents the user withinformation relating to one or more awards for which the user canexchange award points.
 9. The system of claim 8, said product purchaselink being adapted to enable the user to access means enabling the userto purchase merchandise selected with said product selection link. 10.The system of claim 8, further comprising an award selection linkadapted to enable the user to select an award presented on said awardpresentation web page to exchange for a number of award points issued tothe user.
 11. A method for providing an internet-based product marketingincentive system comprising: electronically transmitting over theinternet to a user computer a product navigation link which can beactivated by a user to direct the user to a product information web pagewhich presents the user with information relating to one or moreproducts available for purchase by the user; electronically transmittingover the internet to the user computer a product selection link whichenables the user to select a product presented on the productinformation web page for purchase; electronically transmitting over theinternet to the user computer a product purchase link which enables theuser to purchase the product selected with the product selection link;determining if the user is entitled to receive award points forpurchasing the selected product, and, if the user is entitled to receiveaward points for purchasing the selected product, immediatelycalculating the number of points to be awarded for purchasing theselected product based on a predetermined award point formula andimmediately issuing the number of award points calculated to an awardpoints account of the user; and electronically transmitting over theinternet to the user computer an award navigation link which can beactivated by the user to direct the user to an award information webpage which presents the user with information relating to one or moreawards for which the user can exchange award points.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising electronically transmitting over theinternet to the user computer an award selection link which enables theuser to select an award presented on said award information web page toexchange for a number of award points issued to the user.
 13. The methodof claim 12, further comprising determining if the user has enoughpoints to exchange for the selected award, and, if not, displaying thenumber of points the user is short of for receiving the selected award.